UKC

Hi,
I was planning to go ski touring in the Jotunheimen for 5 days at the start of May, travelling by bus from Oslo to Gjendesheim, having done this journey before in the summer. However, the bus does not run as far as Gjendesheim until later in the year.
I am struggling to find somewhere I can reach by public transport from Oslo, which will give me easy access to the mountains. This is probably just due to ignorance - there must be places. But it's difficult to know where to start looking.
One example is Rjukan, which gives easy access to the Hardangervidda, but I've toured there before, so that's out. I am also looking for somewhere more 'alpine' like the Jotunheimen. I'm looking for spectacular peaks and some interesting ridges and steeps.
So - any suggestions?
Cheers,
C.

In reply to cahotic:

A bit earlier in the year but I've skied North South across Jotunheimen in Jan or Feb. We bused to Lom and then got a taxi to the end of the road (not far) and skied from there. Amazing trip and we were utterly alone due to the time of year.

Have a great trip.

Toby

In reply to cahotic:
The train to Trondheim stops at Kongsvoll which would give you easy access to Dovrefjell. I"ve only visited for a couple of days (late March from memory) but we had a good day skiing on Snøhetta. Not sure about snow cover in May, probably OK high up but the approach might be walking rather than skiing

In reply to cahotic:

There is slightly smaller scale stuff just north of Lillehammer; Ringebu, Venabu and Rondane national park. Nothing especially high or very alpine like, 1000m or so, but plenty of hills & hut to hut opportunities. It's all to the east of the E6, so getting back to civilisation should not be too complex.

In reply to cahotic:

Train runs to andalsnes and there's a guidebook: ski mountaineering in Romsdal. Some of the stuff is accessible from the village without transport.

In reply to cahotic:

I don't know as I always drive everywhere here, but you could contact http://www.spiterstulen.no/en/ as they can probably advise.

I've only tried skiing in Jotunheimen once, but got blown away by the strong winds, so I don't know much about the skiing.

Are you familiar with the fri flyt topptur books?

In reply to James Richardson:
Might be a bit late in the season in Romsdalen, especially with the thin snow right now. You could consider lyngen or lofoten which has exactly what you want, but this season hasn't been so great in the top half of Norway.

In reply to cahotic:

This is excellent information, thanks! I will contact Spiterstulen and see if they can advise on public transport links, thanks.

Thanks also for the other tips. Will do some research on these alternatives. Lofoten is on my hit-list, but I'm wondering if its maritime location might mean there's not much snow by May.

C.

In reply to cahotic:


Generally no... Lyngen and nearby stuff will be skiable however.

As would be stuff from Narvik (you might need to dab into Sweden though).


Stuff around Stryn should be good, though. I beleive they are having a rather good year... and the summer-ski resort is planned to open sometime late May or something.

In reply to cahotic:
I've just done the train journey from Fouske to Oslo and can confirm that the north has poor snow and thaw compared to the central region.
[this year that is]

In reply to cahotic:

Yeah, I'm heading to Sunnmøre this easter - that's where all the snow has fallen. Could be good in May too.

In reply to cahotic:

Jotunheim in late May is a mix of winter and summer, both for transport and conditions. A safe starting point will be Tyinkrysset at the south side of Jotunheimen. Direct bus Oslo to this stop with several departures per day.
I guess the gravel road from Tyinkrysset to Fondsbu / Eidsbugarden will be open by this time. Maybe a taxi could take you the final 20 km to Fondsbu, as there is no bus service here. It may be ok to ski from Tyinkrysset, check the snow conditions before you leave.

From Eidsbugarden you will have access to the higher parts of Jotunheimen. A good map is found here: http://english.turistforeningen.no/

In reply to cahotic:

Excellent, many thanks. Will look into possibilities from Tyinkrisset. If necessary I can walk 20km!

Cheers,

C

In reply to cahotic:

We caught the bus from Oslo to Gjendesheim last April, but unfortunately it looks like that service stops for May. We finished in Tyinkrysset and caught a couple of buses to get back to Oslo. Might be (might not be) some useful info on my blog:

http://www.applemountaineering.co.uk/2014/04/20/ski-touring-jotunheimen-nor...

In reply to cahotic:

Try Geilo; there's a load of ski-touring in the region, it's set up pretty well for tourists, and you can do hut-to-hut tours from the valley up as well as accessing the Hardangervidda for more epic stuff.
If you're in a group it's probably cheaper (and *way* easier) to rent a car from the airport than rely on public transport; we rented a car at oslo airport between three of us for 10 days and it was about a third less expensive than getting buses everywhere would have been.

In reply to cahotic:
I've been to the Jotunheimen twice now, ski touring by public transport. It felt easy both times. I can't remember the specific details I'm afraid.

On both occasions, we got advice from the DNT office. There is one in Oslo. They were very clued up and could tell us exactly which connections to get. One stage of our journey involved a snow cat, but this was over Easter so they may have put it on for that.

Edit: I just found our photo album. There's some more information on there: https://picasaweb.google.com/101552120795545531732/Norway2008

I hope this helps,
Mehmet

In reply to cahotic:

The winter season at Fondsbu finishes 3 May, so I'm assuming that there is weasel transport across lake Tyin until then. If you're coming by bus from Oslo, don't get of the bus at Tyinkrysset, but at the next stop which is at the southern end of the lake 4 or 5 km on. I'm not sure Fondsbu has a self-service bit, but Olavsbu, Gjendebu and Skogadalsböen do. Skogadalsböen gives you access to some of the peaks in Hurrungane which certainly fit the description "alpine".

Turtagrö which is on the western side of Hurrungane is might be an option. There are buses from Oslo to Sogndal, I think, and possibly on to Fortun, but then you'd have to take a taxi. Krossbu or Sogndalshytta are the same deal as Spiterstulen: bus to Lom and then you'd have to take a taxi up towards Sognefjellet.

In reply to cahotic:

The local service in Valdres: http://jvb.no these guys also operate the beltebiler (cars on caterpillar tracks) in this part of the Valdres.

The other bus is : http://www.valdresekspressen.no These guys can take your from Oslo centre to Beitostølen or Tynnkrysset.

www.nsb.no run the trains from Oslo to for example Otta (you get off here to go to Lom).

You can take a bus right up to Beitostølen and then ski in from there or take a beltebiler from there into Bygdin hotel. The road over Valdresflya is normally reopened after winter before easter. JVB operate a bus thereafter. There is a Youth hostel at the top of the mountain pass: http://www.valdresflya.com/vf_main_no.html should be open as the people are trying to keep it open most of the year now. Great place for day trips.

You can take a bus right up to Tynnkrysset (This is the small town before you go over Filerfjell. You can get in a beltebil into Fondsbu or bus if the road is cleared. There are a few option there now. 1) DNT hytta, 2) Eidsbugarden hotel (new owners) 3) camp. This end of the Jotunheim is really beautiful. There is also another lodge on the way to Fondsbu.

Some of the heartland hytta (Gliterheim and Leirvassbu Mountain Lodge) both operate beltebiler, but only around Easter.

The start of May, the Jotunheim around Krossbu will also be open, and even the road over to Turtagrø. It will be possible to get a bus up from Lom to Krossbu. Really great ski mountains here. Storebjørn is a must!

Its been a weird winter this year. In the west huge amounts of snow and with us in Valdres not so much. Temps have been up and down. When planning a tour in early May I would avoid destinations that require crossing large waters, like Gjende. We undertook a tour a few years back. We first crossed Gjende but on the way back after 7 days the ice was to dangerous and we had to walk out carrying all our ski gear. Simple waters that could be crossed quickly had now long detours. Not fun.

Fondsbu, Krossbu and the Hurrungane these a good for May.

In reply to Valdres Fjellguider:

some good info in this DNT document:

http://www2.turistforeningen.no/files/DNT-Oslo/publikasjoner/Engelsk/Norweg...